A history of protests in New York City – in pictures

A new exhibition at the Bronx Documentary Center features the work of photojournalists who captured conflict on the streets of New York between 1980 and 2000. Whose Streets? Our Streets! covers moments of violent confrontation like the Tompkins Square Riot, the creativity of the Aids protesters of the 1990s and non-violent civil disobedience triggered by racial tensions, and runs until 5 March

Sarah Gilbert

Main image:
An image from Whose Streets? Our Streets? on display at the Bronx Documentary Center.
Photograph: James Hamilton

Sat 14 Jan 2017 07.30 EST
Last modified on Wed 5 Jul 2017 08.07 EDT

Pro-choice demonstrators in downtown Manhattan protest against the 1989 supreme court Webster decision that limited Roe V Wade, a turning point in the pro-choice movement. Twenty-four people were arrested, including activist Mary Lou Greenberg, as they stormed the Brooklyn bridge

A demonstration at the Jay Street-Borough Hall subway station following the Howard Beach verdict in December 1987, in which three white defendants were found guilty of manslaughter over the death of an African American man, Michael Griffith. He was beaten and chased by a white mob on to a highway where he was struck by a car

A group called ‘Women in Mourning and Outrage’ hold up photographs of Amadou Diallo during a rally in 2000. It was held after the acquittal of four NYC police officers involved in the shooting of Diallo, who was unarmed

Act Up staged a ‘Day of Desperation’ protest in 1991, protesting at George HW Bush spending billions on the Gulf war while saying there was no cash for Aids programmes. This banner was raised at Grand Central Station